KCG Journal Articles

Hungry Bellies Have No Ears. How and Why Hunger Inhibits Sustainable Consumption

12th July 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Stefan Hoffmann, Robert Mai, Wassili Lasarov, Jan Krause and Ulrich Schmidt (Ecological Economics, Vol. 160, 96-104)

While reports state that consumers are increasingly willing to consume more sustainably, no study has considered how the activation of very basic human needs, such as the state of hunger, affects sustainable food consumption. The authors expect that hungry consumers display a lower preference for sustainable food items and that this hunger-induced[…]

Nudges, Transparenz und Autonomie: eine normativ gehaltvolle Kategorisierung von Maßnahmen des Nudgings

12th July 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Ludger Heidbrink and Andrea Klonschinski (Vierteljahreshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 2018, Vol. 87(1), 15-27)

The debate on the legitimacy of nudging is hampered by the absence of a clear definition of what a nudge is. Given that the attempt to limit the term “nudge” to interventions exploiting cognitive biases has not been accepted in the literature[…]

Which Boats are lifted by a Foreign Tide? Direct and Indirect Wage Effects of Foreign Ownership

4th June 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Sourafel Girma, Holger Görg and Erasmus Kersting (Journal of International Business Studies, 2019, Vol. 50(6), 923-947)

The attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered to be of particular importance for emerging economies because it represents a channel through which international convergence in standards of living may be achieved. One important effect of FDI is its impact on wages, both within the targeted firm (direct) and the local firms within the same geographic region and sector (indirect). In this paper we investigate the question whether multinational enterprises[…]

How Borrowing Constraints Hinder Migration: Theoretical Insights from a RUM Model

2nd April 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Léa Marchal and Claire Naiditch (Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2020, Vol. 122(2), 732-761)

We provide a theoretical framework to analyze how financial constraints hinder migration. Introducing wealth heterogeneity and borrowing constraints into a RUM model of migration, we find evidence of multilateral resistance to migration stemming from borrowing constraints[…]

Die Effekte deutscher Direktinvestitionen im Empfängerland vor dem Hintergrund des Leistungsbilanzüberschusses: Empirische Evidenz mit Mikrodaten für Frankreich

21st February 2019
KCG Secretary
Autoren: Holger Görg und Léa Marchal (Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 2019, Band 20, Heft 1, 53-69)

Deutschland hat seit Jahren einen Leistungsbilanzüberschuss, der international kritisiert wird. Die Bedeutung der deutschen Direktinvestitionen im Ausland ist dabei in den letzten Jahren stark angestiegen. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht diese Studie die Effekte von Direktinvestitionen auf Unternehmen im Gastland. Dazu werden Unternehmensdaten für Frankreich verwendet. Insgesamt liefert die Studie zwei wirtschaftspolitisch relevante Ergebnisse. Zum einen haben deutsche Übernahmen von französischen Unternehmen im Durchschnitt keine negativen Auswirkungen auf Produktivität, Qualifikationsstruktur und Handelsaktivität der übernommenen Unternehmen. Zum anderen zeigt sich[…]

Chinese Direct Investment in Europe – Challenges for EU FDI Policy

31st January 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Frank Bickenbach and Wan-Hsin Liu (CESifo Forum, 2018, Vol. 19(4), 15-22)

Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) into the European Union (EU) has increased substantially over the last decade. Whereas the EU generally welcomes inward FDI, FDI from China has been often accompanied by concerns. In view of these developments, the EU now faces the challenge of reforming its FDI policy in such a way as to simultaneously (i) defend the EU’s current openness to FDI (including from China); (ii) address the security concerns that have been raised for some types of FDI[…]

International Trade and Retail Market Performance and Structure: Theory and Empirical Evidence

30th August 2018
KCG Secretary
Authors: Philipp Meinen and Horst Raff (Journal of International Economics,2018, Vol. 115, 99-114)

Based on a theoretical model featuring heterogeneous retailers that may source globally and operate as chains, we derive a number of hypotheses that link trade integration to retail firm performance and to the structure of retail markets. We empirically test these predictions using Danish microdata for the period 1999 to 2008. We find that importing retailers are larger, more profitable, and have a higher propensity to have multiple shops than domestically sourcing[…]

Incentives through Inventory Control in Supply Chains

19th June 2018
KCG Secretary
Authors: Zhan Qu, Horst Raff and Nicolas Schmitt (International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2018, Vol. 59, 486-513)

The paper shows that taking inventory control out of the hands of competitive or exclusive retailers and assigning it to a manufacturer increases the value of a supply chain especially
for goods whose demand is highly volatile. This is because doing so solves incentive distortions[…]